SS JOSEPH MURGAS was one of more than 2,700 Liberty ships built in a great rush immediately before, during, and immediately after World War II. Most were used strictly to carry cargo to military theaters throughout the world, although some were converted to carry both troops and cargo. About 90% of the Liberty ships survived the war, with many sailing for decades after for private shipping companies. Two ships remain operational to this day, as museum ships.
JOSEPH MURGAS was built by the Southeastern Shipbuilding Corp. in Savannah, Georgia, in 57 days in September-October 1944. Her keel was laid September 1, she was launched October 12, and she was completed and delivered for service October 28. She must have had a rather uneventful wartime career as I can find nothing of significance about her online. She was laid up in the reserve fleet ("mothballed") in the James River, Virginia, until being scrapped in 1972 in Philadelphia. She was named after Joseph Murgas (1864-1929), a Catholic priest from Slovakia who was also an artist and scientist. He had patents on a "Tone System of Wireless Telegraphy" which he sold to Guglielmo Marconi. See http://shipbuildinghistory.com/history/shipyards/4emergencylarge/wwtwo/southeastern.htm and scroll to hull number 71. Also see http://www.mariners-l.co.uk/LibShipsJon.html and scroll to the name of the ship.
You may be able to obtain information on the whereabouts of this ship at various times, the convoys in which she sailed, and applicable dates, by doing a "Ship Search" at the excellent website, ConvoyWeb (see http://www.convoyweb.org.uk/hague/index.html). A similar site, although less comprehensive, is Warsailors.com (http://www.warsailors.com/search.html).
If you are interested in obtaining a photograph of the ship, see this webpage for sources of photographs of World War II-era merchant ships: http://www.usmm.org/photosource.html. A good source is Mr. Hultgren, who specializes in Liberty ship photographs. I know enough about his collection to know that he apparently has an image of JOSEPH MURGAS. Mr. Hultgren is quite elderly but at last report he was still actively managing his collection.
From your e-mail address I see that your last name is Archibald. Would your grandfather have been Freelon Archibald? I find an Armed Guard crewman by that name aboard JOSEPH MURGAS on a voyage that ended in New York on January 1, 1945. The ship left Savannah about November 10, 1944 (meaning this would have been her maiden voyage), bound for England via New York. She left Liverpool on December 14, 1944, for the return trip to New York. The eastbound voyage appears to be that of convoy HX-320; see http://www.warsailors.com/convoys/hx320.html. The westbound voyage seems to have been in convoy ON-272.
The Armed Guard unit for this voyage, including your grandfather, was:
Freelon Archibald
Edwin Bargiel
Klevis Berzenski
Martin Conjura
Holten J Gandy
Stanley Gasik
Everett C Gillan
Henry E Hayes
Killian Kendrick
John K Mallard
Duncan N McGilvray
Wilbur Piercy
Harry Quattlebaum
Edward Rubel
Harry M Scott
Leonard Sharp
With one possible exception, I don't know whether any of these men are still living, nor do I have contact information for any of them. I will send information on one possible living shipmate in a private e-mail.
You may be able to obtain your grandfather's military service record, which would indicate the ships to which he was assigned, applicable dates, any decorations or medals earned, etc. Please see this page from the Armed Guard website: http://armed-guard.com/searchmil.html. In particular see section A.1. Records of Individuals - U.S. Military. You will have to contact the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis, MO, a facility operated by the U.S. Archives. Provide as much identifying information as possible about your grandfather. Since you are not next of kin to your grandfather (next of kin = parent, spouse, sibling, child), you may not be able to obtain his full service record. If there is anyone living who is next of kin to your grandfather, your father for example, that person would be able to obtain the full record. The National Personnel Records Center is also the place to contact for obtaining replacement medals or decorations. The links on the web page noted above will take you to the necessary pages of the Records Center web site. There may be a fee for obtaining the information but the Records Center staff will not begin research without informing you of any charge.
Good luck.
Ron Carlson, Webmaster
Armed Guard / Merchant Marine website
www.armed-guard.com
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